Like many other viewers out there, I was happy to finally reach the end of the Survivor story arc of this season’s House. It has been a fun ride, but I was beginning to feel that it lasted too long. While providing many unique opportunities for comedic elements and witty banter, along with some character development for the new doctors, I lamented the lack of screen time for the old team members and I missed the brooding, introspective angst, intelligence, and twisted nobility of our main character, Gregory House.
This week’s installment has House trying to whittle his team down, per Cuddy’s directive, to two candidates. He will judge the team based on their diagnostic skills and treatment of their new patient – a dying punk rocker named Jimmy Quidd, who comes complete with an attitude and a drug problem. Foreman objects to the whole game process and reminds House that a battery of tests could kill the patient. So, House tells the team that they have to take turns to come up with the correct diagnosis. Through it all, House will arbitrarily award and deduct points to decide who will stay in his employ.
In a parallel story, Wilson is dealing with a unique problem of his own. Apparently, he misdiagnosed a healthy patient and is now confronted with the task of telling the man that instead of dying in a few months, he is going to live. Instead of looking at the man’s fate as good news, House declares that it is interesting. As always, House does not see the good in the situation, only potential problems and an opportunity to confirm his negative views of the human condition. Unfortunately for Wilson, his patient proves House right. The man complains that he had changed his life for the better, sold his house and bought tickets for Italy. Now he’ll have to pay $6,000 to a broker for house he won’t be selling. He is disheartened by the good news, and dejectedly thanks Wilson before leaving the hospital to deal with his newfound life expectancy.
One of the key elements of this episode is the subtle way that the patients provide clues to the motivation and character of each of the doctors. Here we have a patient, Quidd, who doesn’t care what anyone thinks of his music or his life. He chooses to throw it away with drugs and lives with no regrets.
Article comments
1 - Susanne
Amen to that. I love reading your reviews. I was very happy to see the arc come to an end I feel that the writers have a habit of letting the arcs go on forever. It was fun to watch at first but it lost its spark. I'm not going to completly shake off the season even the writing was inconsistent and dissapointing but I'm hoping that it will come back stronger then ever. I want to see the complex medical mysteries, the old team and some clinic hours! I haven't entirely warmed up to the new team because they have some characteristics to the original team but I have to see them in full capcity before I make a judgement. I'm already disliking 13. The others I couldn't care less but I might change my mind. Is it just me or did the character of House seem to drop off a bit, he wasn't himself and the writing lacked it's cunning wit that is usually had often making very crude sexual remarks. I hope the strike is over soon, I'm hoping House will come back in a much stronger capacity.
Thanks for the review
2 - eva
I don't understand why he hired Kutner and Taub. Kutner hasn't done anything worth being hired, and Taub is a manipulator. I'm glad he fired the Bitch and Thirteen seems timid. I hope she will have more of a backbone. I am also hoping that it gets back to medical stories where House can show his brilliance in diagnostics instead of his clownishness.
3 - Die Hard
It sounds like Wilson has been given more screen time. That is good news as far as I am concerned. Because almost all the other main charactors are monolithic except Wilson (and may be Foreman to an extent). Wilson is susceptible to the people and the environment. He seems more real to me than anyone else. Thus he lacks the comical quality but keeps the series in the 'drama' genre as oppose to 'comedy'.
Anyway, it would be anther couple of years until we see season 4 on telly. May be I should purchase the DVD if and when it is available.
4 - Mary
This is a question, not really a comment. Since "House M.D." is going to be in re-runs until Jan. 29th, is there a reliable online source to which episodes are going to be re-run? I've looked at the Fox website, and did not have much luck there, but maybe I'm looking on the wrong page.
5 - Cindyc
Susanne -- thanks for reading my reviews! I agree that there have been changes in the way the character of House has been presented this season. There really has been an emphasis on his clownishness as eva pointed out. All characters should evolve with time of course. I am still interested in seeing how the changes will play out in the future.
Die Hard - I am happy to see more of Robert Sean Leonard as well. I'm an old Broadway fan, so I have to stick by the Tony winners! I think Wilson does have his funny moments and like House, he is portrayed as as real person full of complexities. I would love to see more of Wilson's story -- including some kind of follow-up to the story of his missing brother.
Mary -- there are websites available to see episodes of House, but in deference to the writer's guild, I urge you not to use the web as a source until the strike is settled. I have an unfortunate empathy for the writers who are not working during this holiday season. The DVDs are worth it, and if you missed an episode, there will be repeats on Fox and on the USA Network.